A Literary Analysis Of Ayn Rand's Anthem

Everyone has rebelled against their society at least one day in their lifetime. It’s easy to do once you get started, you keep going with what you’re doing and forget you were even a part of one society. Equality learns this the hard way in Anthem. In Anthem, Equality decides to rebel against his society, he then ends up in the Uncharted Forest where he is there to live the rest of his life on his own.

In the book Anthem their society is way different from ours. They are not allowed to be individual or say the word “I”. They can’t have names, instead they are in groups and have group names. They all have a part in society like their jobs and things they do. For example the equality group belong to the street sweepers. Children get taken from their mothers when they are young and get split up into their groups.

Anthem by Ayn Rand is the story of how a man broke free from a society where singularity and being different was evil. Anthem deals with the topic of communism and how everyone is supposed to be equal and the same. This is shown in the book where in Equality 7-2521’s society, the use of the word “I” is non existent. Instead they use the word “We”. This is because that in this world, no man is alone and does everything alongside his brothers. Throughout the book Equality 7-2521 challenges the idea that everyone is and must be the same. Instead he acts on his own.

When one is confined to society and held captive against their ego, it is imperative that they learn to eulogize their own individuality, and learn to improve themselves. In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, Rand uses Equality 7-2521 to communicate the importance of the individual. Equality has always had his own sense of individuality that causes him to stand out and defy the social norms. His individuality allows him to persevere and diverge from collectivist society.

Exemplifying a theme of Anthem where individuality breaks through teaches Equality a big lesson. Brothers stick together and help each other but are not supposed to be exactly like one another. In this novel it tried to make everyone the same and as one, rather than as individuals. The quote “To be a free, a man must be free of his brothers” (chapter 1 page 1) exemplifies a theme by saying that not everyone has to be the same. Equality 7-2521 was never like his brothers. He was always being called out for his height, intelligence, and imagination of creativity. In the reading it stated that “We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike.” (chapter 1, page 1) this

Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.”

At the beginning of Anthem Equality has changed his mind about a lot of things in the beginning of the story. Equality got picked to be a street sweeper by the government, but he really wanted to be a scholar but couldn’t because of the government. Equality had a rough life. Well he was a street sweeper but he was smart enough to be a scholar the government did not think he was. In the book anthem by ayn rand Equality was not good for any body or anything at the beginning he had a rough start to his life.

The book Anthem was written by Ayn Rand is a Science Fiction Book. This Science Fiction book would be unknown since the Author didn’t exactly give the time in the book. In the book Anthem there wasn’t any clues or hints that it took place in 1900’s or the 2000’s. Ayn Rand is a Russian-American novelist and she is known for writing books. During the High school years, she was a eyewitness Kerensky Revolution which she had supported.

Tohniiya Yazzie per 1 Be unique in your own way, do not let other people tell you what to do. Anthem is a dystopian society. No one thinks for themselves, and there is no individuality, everyone has to think like a group. The leaders are called Council of Scholars and they tell everyone in the society what to think and do. No one is allowed to be different, and everyone is supposed to be the same, which is expected to make the society equal. Despite government regulations, Equality’s individuality and intelligent characteristics combined lead him to rediscover the lightbulb.

From the very beginning, Equality had known that he was different, he had an inimitable mentality from his brothers. As long as he could have remembered, Equality was shunned for being unequal from his brothers, when asking questions or wanting to discover new things. “Your eyes are as a flame, but our brothers neither hope not fire. Your mouth is cut out of granite, but out brothers are soft and humble. Your head is high, but our brothers cringe. You walk, but our brothers crawl” (page 82-83). Even though Equality put effort to become equal to his brothers and not feel the guilt of being different, he expected the dissimilarity between him and his brothers. Liberty 5-3000 admired the unique traits that made Equality a distinctive character, as the story went on, Equality accepted the fact that he will always be out of the ordinary. He wants to advance his knowledge about the world around him and answer the questions he has always pondered. “We have some to see how great is the unexplored, and many lifetimes will not bring us to the end of our quest. Be we wish no end to our quest” (page 36). The society that Equality and Liberty are from, implemented uniformity and being different is considered a transgression. With questions that do not have answers, determined Equality to solve and discover the answers, he wished that the discovery will never end. In conclusion, becoming his own individual made him unique and differentiates him from his brothers and sisters left in the

The passage, Anthem, is a science fiction novel written by Ayn Rand. It is mainly about the protagonist, Equality 7-2521's, futuristic journey on rediscovering various aspects of human’s nature. Concepts such as individualism and freedom have been lost due to the oppressive rule of the government, serving as the main antagonist of the novel. Throughout the passage, Anthem, the author uses the literary element of theme. The theme is the main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work. The author uses a theme to convey the central idea of the importance and effects of a person’s individuality on both their freedom and euphoria.

A system of monstrous tyranny holds individuality captive making true happiness rare. When one is muted by society’s harsh regulations, they suffer internally and externally. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand creates a character named Equality who feels tremendous sorrow for the way his life is, but will eventually locate the power behind his own voice. He will use his experiences to guide his acts of defiance and overcome opposing obstacles. Dispar and the negative attitude of others pushed Equality to become determined to transform his life. He is extremely motivated to establish a world where information isn’t limited and people are able to live as they please. Equality has finally uncovered his purpose and is not only willing to defend, but also promote it. Equality’s mindset generated a reaction from the nurture he received, resulting in him to discover his identity.

Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise. In a society that functions by this proverb, wisdom is hard to come by. However, for a being longing for this wisdom, with a natural urge of curiosity, this “bliss” is hell. Equality, a being longing for the validation of his differences in a society of group mentality, is spare of individual morality. He accepts the ignorance of total equality that is forced on him, but is contrastingly different from the image of a part of a communal whole. He searches for development of individual morality, but is struck dry by the restrictive society, by which he is forced to be, think, and live like everyone else, average and accepting. However, throughout, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, Equality’s view of morality transforms from group mentality and collectivism to individualism and independence due to the discovery of his true purpose for living; himself.

Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon. However, when the story's protagonist, Equality, makes a huge scientific discovery, his intentions are more selfish than that.

"We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever’”(Rand 19). In Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are trained from birth to think only in the plural, to the point where they cannot even conceive of individuals, but only see each other as part of the whole group. Rand’s protagonist, Equality 72521, begins the novel as a street-sweeper who is devoted to the group, but begins to move towards individuality as he progresses towards pure selfishness, as Rand believes we all should. Rand uses the words “we” and “I” to represent Equality’s journey from being dependent on the group, to being utterly independent of everyone.